Philadelphia is the setting of an Apple TV+ series that began streaming on Friday. “Dope Thief” stars Oscar nominee Brian Tyree Henry and “Narcos” alumnus Wagner Moura as thieves who gain access to homes by posing as DEA agents. One of their escapades unintentionally brings them to the door of one the biggest drug rings in the country. Some of the filming was done early in 2024 in Delaware County.  The Daily Times originally reported that the working title of the show at first was “Sinking Spring,” which was the listing on imdb.com, then later it was called “Catamount,” before the final name change to “Dope Thief.” Ridley Scott produces and directs the first two episodes. The cast includes Kate Mulgrew. This combination of photos show promotional art for “Dope Thief,” “Electric State” and “Long Bright River.” (Apple TV+/Netflix/Peacock via AP) Also new this weekend is “The Electric State,” a Netflix series in which “Stranger Thing’s” Millie Bobby Brown plays an orphan who sets outs on a road trip to find a brother everyone presumes is dead. Her companion for the journey is a robot. Thursday brings three other new series that might be interesting. “Happy Face,” on Paramount is the latest series about a serial killer played by Dennis Quaid. Annaleigh Ashford, who was hilarious as Mrs. Lovett in a 2022 Broadway revival of “Sweeney Todd,” co-stars as the daughter who exposes her father’s murderous activities. “Ludwig,” on Brit Box, is one of the hottest comedies to debut on British television last year. It’s about a homebody puzzle constructor who is unsatisfied with the investigation to find find his twin brother and decides to conduct his own search. “The Residence,” from Shonda Rhimes and starring Uzo Aduba, concerns a murder in the White House. Jane Curtin, Al Frankel, and Bronson Pinchot are in the cast. Another show set in Philadelphia, “Abbott Elementary” enjoyed continued success. It placed third in the national ratings for primetime programs on legacy networks. It comes behind the 2025 Oscar ceremony and “FBI.” Other shows in the top 10 are “Young Sheldon,” “The Voice,” “Blue Bloods.” “Ghosts,” “FBI International.” “Fire Country,” “FBI Most Wanted,” “9-1-1” and “The Neighborhood.” Among cable and streaming stations, Netflix’s “The Night Agent” is doing well as are “Sweet Magnolias,” “Bluey,” “The Rescue,” “Kinda Pregnant,” “NCIS,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Younger,” “Law & Order” and “The Big Bang Theory.” Gabriel Basso as Peter Sutherland in episode from “The Night Agent” season 2. (CHRISTOPHER SAUNDERS/NETFLIX) Among national news organizations, Fox News Channel’s audience is twice that of the nearest competitor, in most day parts and among key demographics. MSNBC creeps into second, with CNN third. In terms of legacy networks, “ABC News with David Muir” does better than NBC’s “Nightly News with Lester Holt” or CBS’s “Evening News” with John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois. Highest among cable entertainment stations is USA Network in the overall Number Four position. The rest of the top 12 includes TBS, The Food Network, HGTV, Discovery and Nickelodeon. In another ratings service, ESPN comes behind Fox News Channel in the Number One position. TBS, CNN, The Food Network, USA, and Comedy Central also do well on that service. Hedgrow’s pair provides new lenses Marcie Bramucci, artistic director of Rose Valley’s Hedgerow Theatre says she keeps her eye out for works that speak to the moment. Two of the those works, being performed in repertory this month, are “Nora: A Doll’s House” by Stef Smith and “I, Banquo” by Tim Crouch, both authors being British. If the titles sound familiar or immediately make you think of classic work such as Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” or Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” carefully referred to by Bramucci as “the Scottish play,” it’s a natural reaction. Except neither ‘Nora” or “I, Banquo” is an update or adaptation of their famous sources. They’re more like revisits from a different lens, one that I can tell you from seeing “Nora: A Doll’s House” on Friday, illuminates what Ibsen and Shakespeare wrote and shows how relevant they are in our, and possibly, all times. Performer Kaitlyn Cheng during a scene in “Nora: A Doll’s House,” running on the Hedgerow Theatre stage through April 6. There are three Noras and she is playing the 1973 Nora. (COURTESY OF HEDGEROW THEATRE) Stef Smith, who was present at Hedgerow’s opening but shunned a bow or too much attention, moves Ibsen’s classic into three different years with three different Noras, each of which play other woman’s parts. The minute Bramucci tells me the years, I see the significance of two of them, 1920, the first year American women can vote following the 1919 passage of there 19th amendment, and 1973, the year Roe vs. Wade is heard and abortion is pronounced legal by the Supreme Court. The third year is 2018, for which I couldn’t think of a milestone in women’s history. I was reaching too far. Bramucci tells me it’s the year Smith wrote her play, setting it in Pittsburgh, so it has an American context. The three eras affect language. 2018’s Nora (Amanda Schoonover) speaks a lot more expletives than her 1920 counterpart (Mallory Avnet) yet without the sense of liberation or “brave new world” as 1973’s Nora (Kaitlyn Cheng). Smith’s point is clear. Times may change, but conditions for Nora do not, especially as she is regarded by her husband, called Thomas and played by one actor (Ahren Potratz), her blackmailing nemesis, here named Nathan (Michael Stahler), or infatuated admirer dubbed Daniel (Angel Sigala). Smith establishes a new context while reinforcing the idea that history repeats itself, the cycle begun by Henrik Ibsen in 1879 resonating with modernized Noras from 41, 94 and 139 years later. Director Emma Gibson and her cast enliven Smith and Ibsen’s intentions. The first half of Bramucci’s program of reworked classics is a success. It runs in rep with “I, Banquo” at Hedgerow through April 6. “I, Banquo,” Bramucci says, is the Scottish play told from the viewpoint of someone its title character has slaughtered. Banquo, to be played by Stephen Patrick Smith (not to be confused with “Nora’s” playwright) and directed by a master of one-person plays, Peter de Laurier, depicts Banquo speaking from his grave to tell his version of Macbeth’s story, witches and all. “I chose and paired these works because they continue to explore and expose the human condition, of today as well as yesterday,” Bramucci says. “Stef and Tim take the words and themes of the past and show how the elements are their core continue to relate to audiences today. They create new, exciting pieces based on two classic works. “Stef’s Noras and Tim’s Banquo become a barometer of what one can do when their lives are affected so much by others. They show the deep disconnect of being an individual who is part of a larger story. “Coming out of the pandemic when people were so isolated yet enmeshed in a common experience, getting through a crisis together, brought the idea of the individual in the midst of social forces to light. “These two works expand on their source material and speak to that, how we navigate being individuals while being part of a collective. “I like that the two pieces give audiences two points of view. I also enjoy the adventurousness of these writers, especially in terms of form and content.” Bramucci adds that given how much people see on television and how that medium tells stories, it’s a benefit to audiences to see a live, immediate performance that might take an unexpected form and offer a different perspective. As Bramucci mounts two new works based on classics at Hedgerow, Alex Burns, her counterpart at Mount Airy’s Quintessence Theatre Group is pairing two Shakespeare plays, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Antony and Cleopatra” in their entirety. Burns’ arching theme is “reckless love.” The first installment, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” seen Saturday, was a lively look at how complicatedly unsmooth the course of true love is while still being love. A cast of 12 plays every part in Burns’ production, the combination and permutation other roles being part of the fun. Apody resurfaces on Channel 29 Jamie Apody, who left Channel 6 last year after a mysterious absence, has been seen in scattershot appearances on Channel 29. Now she will join Breland Moore and Jason Martineza regular part of the team speaking on the Fox station’s “Phantastic Sports Show” at 11:30 p.m. Mondays. Delightful rediscovery Rediscovery, especially when it involves something you thought faded from sight, is always a rich experience. An early Saturday-morning wake-up reacquainted me with one of my favorite radio programs from the top of this century. Ha! The title of that program figured unexpectedly in that last sentence. “From the Top” is a delightful radio show from a Boston organization that does the kind of good work I would want to inaugurate if I had the money to do it. Peter Dugan attends the SeriousFun New York City Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall on Nov. 14, 2022 in New York City. (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for SeriousFun Children’s Network) Each show, taped at a different venue around the United States, features talented student musicians, often playing complicated work. This past week, it included a violin piece, “Morphologies: A Violin Fantasy,” by a 17-year-old Philadelphian, Cyrano Jett Rosenstrater, heard on WRTI (90.1 FM), which carries “From the Top” at 7 a.m. Saturday on all of its regional stations. Rosenstrater, talking to “From the Top” host Peter Dugan, said that his composition was designed to be played differently each time it was performed. Hence, it morphs into a new work depending on the mood, sentiment, or experimental disposition of the violinist. Dugan’s talks with the young musicians are as interesting as the music they play. Usually, they reveal teenagers and adolescents whose articulateness and maturity are impressive but make it clear that they are everyday children who enjoy skateboarding, hanging out at malls, playing video games and doing things with friends. I worry when they say they play football or other contact sports because I don’t want anything to happen to their fingers. Just last week I met someone whose career as a guitarist was shortened by a band saw accident. Dugan, a concert pianist in his own right, keeps matters breezy, so the general tone of “From the Top” matches the quality of the music heard and the funny, revealing stories the musicians tell. Dugan also serves as the piano accompanist for the musicians. He is abetted in this by fellow pianist Orli Shaham, violinists Charles Yang and Tessa Lark, and clarinetist Alex Laing. “From the Top” celebrates in 25th anniversary on the air this season. I was a regular listener in its early days and interviewed its original host, Christopher O’Reilly. I lost track of the show and figured it was no longer being produced. Wrong! The minute I heard the interview after a performance, I recognized “From the Top’s” format, and my admiration for it was the same as ever. Now I’ll have to set my alarm for 7 a.m. Saturday even when I don’t have to get up that early. I also don’t have to win the lottery to know that “From the Top” will remain supported. Its main benefactor is the Jack Cooke Foundation, same as its was during my previous listening days. ...read more read less